Meirav Leshem Gonen, the mother of the hostage Romi, who was abducted by Hamas, talked to Arutz Sheva - Israel National News about how she is coping with the ordeal nearly 100 days later.
“I put the feelings behind a locked door and don’t think about anything that can take energy from me. I make sure that I am always taking action, and that I am never, ever alone. It makes me feel safer.”
The last word she has of Romi came from other hostages who have been released, who reported on her condition. “Her hand is not working well, as she was shot in the arm. That’s a small thing, though, considering that she is in the hands of Hamas.’’
Meirav stated that she expects the world as a whole to work to see the hostages returned. “This is not an Israeli issue, it’s for the whole world. I expect to see the strongest leaders of the world, like the United States, like Egypt, like Qatar, working to see them coming back now. Not soon, now. I don’t know how much longer they can take it.”
Meirav joins the many other figures who have praised the national unity that accompanied the war. “Before October 7th, we were so completely divided. Since then, we have learned what is really important, and how to make ourselves united again. We have learned how to talk about things, how to talk with people that we disagree with, and we need that because we are all one - we live in the same place, we all want the same things, and we all want the hostages back alive.”
She extended the sentiment to the hostage recovery efforts as well: “Some say that we need a military solution, some say that we need an agreement. The answer is somewhere in the middle, but what’s important is to know how to talk through the differences and find the middle path for all of us.”
Although she has not heard from Romi for some time, Meriav hopes that her daughter can sometimes see her on TV or hear her on radio. “Other hostages who were released told us that they could hear radio stations from southern Israel. I gave a lot of interviews to raise awareness, and the other hostages said that Romi heard me. That can give them strength and hope to know that we are turning the world upside down to get them back.”